1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell power generation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previously, the present Assignee proposed, as a fuel cell power generation system that can compensate a delay in the response of a reformer, one comprising a hydrogen reservoir that can occlude hydrogen generated by the reformer, and release the same, wherein the hydrogen reservoir has a first storage section comprising an easily hydrogen occluding first hydrogen occlusion material which is inclined to occlude hydrogen easily, and a second storage section comprising an easily hydrogen releasing second hydrogen occlusion material which is inclined to release hydrogen easily, and wherein hydrogen from the reformer is once occluded in the first storage section and then, hydrogen obtained by releasing this occluded hydrogen is transferred to the second storage section and occluded there. The occluded hydrogen is released from the second storage section as the fuel cell starts up, and supplied to the fuel cell (refer to Specification and Drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 11-164939). This hydrogen supply system was developed mainly for loading on automobiles.
In the above proposed system, non-used hydrogen which is not used in the fuel cell is used as fuel of evaporator burner, thus the non-used hydrogen is not wasted. However, during deceleration of an automobile, considerable amount of non-used hydrogen is generated, and it is not economical to simply burn such expensive hydrogen. Moreover, when non-used hydrogen is generated in the evaporator, this hydrogen is eventually discharged in the atmosphere, and when this discharged hydrogen amount increases, this leads to lower fuel-efficiency and lower energy efficiency of the whole system.